Never Found
by Jayden4U
Summary: Kailynn is lost after the dissapearance of her father and further disturbed by her leaving the vault, and the sight of the Capital Wasteland. Will someone be able to get her back on her feet? PLEASE READ ALL THE WAY THROUGH! Some chapters have been tweaked as well as the pairing. Now F!wanderer/Butch. Oh, and SLIGHT SPOILERS throughout game!
1. Prologue: 2059, Saturday, Oct 25th

_**IMPORTANT NOTE- PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU BEGIN STORY:** Yes, the first few chapters are recaps, BUT I put my own twist on them. **YOU NEED TO READ IT BEFORE BEGINNING THE STORY.** If you don't, things that happen later in the story will be confusing, like what happens with Butch. I haven't updated in a while because people keep not reading the first few chapters and that is very aggravating. If you aren't going to read the entire story, don't waste your time and mine. Thank you.  
>Anywho, without further adue, here is the prologue of "Never Found". <strong>PLEASE READ AND REVIEW<strong> =3_

Prologue: Year 2059, Saturday, Oct. 25th

"It's a girl, Catherine- a beautiful baby girl." James stroked the infant's face with love, gazing down at her startled face. The baby gulped in air, and let out its first healthy wail.

"Oh my gosh- she _is_ beautiful… she looks just like her daddy…" Murmured an exhausted Catherine. James smiled, full of pride at the small bundle laying before him. With her black hair and big striking blue eyes, she did truly take after her father. He lightly touched her head of hair, making soft shushing sounds. Who knew something so small could hold such a big place in your heart?

"What should we name her?" James asked, looking up at his wife.

"I like… Kailynn…." She sighed, closing her eyes briefly.

"Kailynn. I like that name, too." He looked down at his daughter once more. "Kailynn…" He murmured, a small smile on his face.

Catherine felt strange, almost as if she were sinking into the bed she lay on. She'd marked it off as just being tired, but that didn't explain the sudden slowing of her heart beat, and the extreme tunnel vision. Finally, a pain ripped through her chest, and she panicked.

"James!" She cried weakly, her vision going black altogether. He jumped, startled as he did an automatic look over of her. His eyes widened with fear.

Catherine was dying.

"She's going into cardiac arrest! Get the baby out of here!" James shouted, jumping to the side and grabbing the items needed to resuscitate her. The nurse nodded, wheeling the baby out of the room as asked.

"One, two, and- clear!" He cried, panic overriding his senses. "Come on Catherine! Clear!" He yelled one more time, sending the shock waves from the medical instrument into her body, but it was no use.

Catherine was dead.


	2. 2075, Tuesday, Jan 7th Vault 101

Chapter One: Year 2075, Tuesday, January 7th- Vault 101

"Dad- I'm sick *cough cough*- see?" I pleaded, trying my hardest to actually seem sick.

"No, you aren't, Kailynn. I just did a full look- over of you and it seems, 'shockingly', that you are as healthy today as you are any other day." He scolded, his eyebrows scrunched together on his forehead. "Now run along, you have a G.O.A.T. to take." He continued, a certain finality to his voice. Before I could say anything else, he turned on his heel and walked into his office, entering a new entry into his data base. I sighed, then walked out of the door and down the hall.

I was about to enter the classroom to take the test when I heard cackling and laughing behind me. I grit my teeth as I tried to ignore them- the "Tunnel Snakes" as they called themselves.

"Aww come on, not even a glare my way? Damn you're getting good." Came the gang's leader- Butch DeLoria. The gang had been picking on me and my childhood bestfriend, Amata, ever since we had all become teenagers. She pretended she didn't know why, but it was so out in the open, it was hard to ignore. We were "grown up" now. They wanted a "lay". They had yet to realize that they weren't going to _get_ one.

I felt a hand snake around my waist and before I knew it, I was turned around and against Butch's chest. He smirked at me- that devilish smirk of his- and I leveled a glare at him. I felt my face heat up at how close I was to him, and how much of him I could _feel_. I grit my teeth as I tried to push myself away from him.

"What? Speechless?" He murmured to me, pressing me harder to his body. I had to hold back a groan at the action. I told myself the groan was because he was making it hard to breathe, even though my body was telling me different. I wasn't going to lie to myself- the man was freaking gorgeous, _but_, he was a pig. And _that_ made him unattractive in my eyes. He didn't know how to be around a woman without drooling on her first.

"Where's your possy, Butch? Ditch you again?" I fired at him, trying to shove down the mixed feelings I had towards the boy. I tried again to escape, again ending in failure.

"After your little friend. They'll be back. In the meantime…" He purred, moving his face closer to mine. I moved my head as far away from his as I possibly could, and _that_ ended up in him tangling his fingers in my hair and bringing me forward. Anger surged through me and I smacked him across the face, making him let go of me and stumble backwards. He whipped his head back toward me, pissed now. I crossed my arms.

"Ohh…. Did I piss little Butchie off?" I smiled at him as I put my hands on my cheeks in mock sadness. He straightened and his smirk returned as well as his friends, along with a pissed Amata.

"This isn't over. You're lucky we got a test to take, and honestly, I don't want to be stuck in Maintenance. When you want some real fun, you know who to call." He winked at me, that seductive smirk still in place. He slicked back his hair and strode into the classroom, his head held high and his fellow Tunnel Snakes behind him.

"Those Tunnel Snakes. They think they own the place. Tsht. Assholes." Amata remarked, her face just as red as mine was. I rolled my eyes. 'They _think_ they own _us_.' I thought bitterly.

"No kidding." I mumbled, turning toward the classroom. "Let's go. We have to take that test."

We looked around for a seat in the class, and unfortunately, there were two seats: one in front of Christina- the "too good for anyone" girl, and one right next to Butch. His eyes wandered over to me, then the seat next to him. Then came the infamous smirk.

"God, it never ends, does it?" Amata fumed. I sighed. I could handle Butch- better than _she _could anyway. She just pretended they didn't know what they were talking about, and _that _got her teased even worse.

"Go sit by Christina. I'll handle Butch." I shrugged, leveling a look at her. She looked as though she was going to protest, until I glared at her and shook my head no. Defeated, she sighed and made her way over to the other seat. I turned and sat by Butch, ready to turn my ears off and ignore him.

"Just can't stay away, can ya?" He murmured, a smile in his voice. I didn't respond, just folded my hands in my lap and smiled at the teacher, my eyes trained on him. Butch didn't like this. "Aww, you're such a buzz- kill, ya know? Ah, whatever. I'll get back at you later, after this _G.O.A.T_." He snickered. I grit my teeth, determined not to say anything. Butch took a breath to tease me more, but was cut off by the teacher.

"Alright class, settle down, take your seats. It's time to begin the G.O.A.T." The teacher had announced. "Now. What I am about to pass out to you is the answer sheet. The questions," He continued as he walked up and down the rows of desks passing out papers, "are going to be shown up on the projector. Read each carefully and answer truthfully. You cannot fail, as these are your opinions. Take your time. Alright, here we go." As soon as he finished passing out papers, he walked over to the projector, pushing the button to move to the next slide.

"Question one:…."

After he read the last question and I answered it, I put my pencil down and let out a big sigh.

"Alright, everyone finished? Anyone need repeats? No? Good. Turn your papers in to my desk and I will calculate your results." The teacher explained, walking over to his desk.

I wrote my name on the top of the paper and stood, walking over to the desk. There was a crowd of students surrounding the desk, so I had to wait a while. Finally, when I got to the desk, I gave him the test and he scanned it, shuffling through other papers afterward.

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting he looked up at me.

"Looks like you'll be working the micro- biology field." He stated, smiling. I blinked, a blank expression on my face. "It means you'll be working with your dad."

"Oh. In the science field? Yuck." I crossed my arms, a sullen expression on my face. The teacher shrugged.

"Nothing I can do about it, kiddo. Sorry about your disappointment though." He sympathized, reaching for the next kid in line's paper. I turned away from the desk and made my way through the crowd of kids until I found my way out.

As I walked down the hallway, two thoughts passed through my mind:

'GOD I hate my life.' And 'Thank God DeLoria was too preoccupied with that test…'


	3. 2077, Sunday, Oct 25th Vault 101

**Chapter Two: 2077, Sunday, Oct. 25th- Vault 101**

"Happy birthday Kailynn!" The crowd before me shouted. I'd been momentarily blinded by the insanely bright light turning on in the room, and that plus the shock of it all left me stunned.

"Happy birthday, kiddo. My, my, eighteen already. You've grown up so fast…" My dad patted me on the back. I smiled at him, finally recovering from the shock of it all.

"Happy birthday!" My best friend Amata bounced up to me, chirping happily.

"Thank you." I smiled at her. Just as Amata opened her mouth to say something, her dad, the overseer, came up to me with a 'holier than thou' fake smile on his face.

"Kailynn, er… happy birthday." He cleared his throat as if he were glad that was over. "I hope you understand that now as an adult you have more responsibilities concerning the vault, and you now have more that is expected of you." He continued on, that smile seeming to get even more fake as he talked, if that was possible. I frowned, upset that the duties was all he really seemed to care about, regardless of the fact that it was my birthday. His smile faded, his anger at my lack of agreement showing a little. My dad elbowed me, giving me a look, and I forced myself to give him a curt, sharp nod.

"Good." He said shortly, then walked out of the room the party was in. I grit my teeth against my anger.

"Sorry- he's been in a bad mood lately…" Amata apologized immediately after the door the overseer left out of closed, a panicked smile on her face.

"He's ALWAYS in a bad mood, Amata." I glared at her. "He's power crazy- you _know_ this-" At my words, her eyes went wide and she clapped a hand over my mouth.

"Shush! You _know_ better!" She whispered harshly, her hand dropping from my face. I ground my teeth again, my anger growing.

"I _know_, by why? Why can't I make a single comment-"

"Nuh- uh. We know better." With this, she walked away. I sighed, then turned toward the people in the room, and went to try and enjoy the rest of my party.

As the party came to a close, a handful of people came by to give their final "happy birthdays" and left to go to their chambers for the night. I sighed, exhausted from everything that day, as I made my way back to dad and my "house".

I walked down the long hallway, lost in my thoughts. I thought about the Overseer, and his God complex, as well as how much I didn't like it. Who gave him the right? Who died and made him God? The bastard. I sighed as I realized that getting mad about it was going to get me nowhere. He _was_ the Overseer after all, so it wasn't like I could really do anything about how he was acting. I sighed one more time as I reached the corner I needed to turn to get to my house.

Seemingly out of nowhere, I was grabbed from behind and flipped around and abruptly slammed against the wall, my arm twisted behind me. I cried out in shock, and a hand covered my mouth. I looked back behind me to see who's ass I had to kick, but my view was really limited, so I couldn't see much. I wiggled around, trying to get loose, but the grip the person had on me only tightened. Finally I heard a chuckle. Anger surged through me as I realized who the person was.

Butch DeLoria. The fucking asshole.

"Happy Birthday, loser." He came close to my ear and whispered mockingly. I snorted and whipped my head back, cracking him in the head and making him stumble backwards. He let go of me and I whipped around, fists and teeth clenched in anger. He glared back.

"And to think, I was going to be nice, too…." He sighed as he dusted himself off.

"_Nice_? Slamming me up against a wallis your idea of _nice_?" I snarled. He smirked at me.

"Still innocent like daddy raised you, eh?" He purred as he took a step toward me. I tensed.

"Touch me and I'll break your damn face, DeLoria." I growled, my voice being an octave lower than I would have liked. His smirk seemed to grow wider as he took another step, now inches from me.

"Go ahead and try. Think you can reach my face?" He chuckled as he pushed a strand of hair from my forehead. I tried to back away, but instead ran into the wall behind me. Instantly, he was in my face, his blue eyes scorching mine as he smashed his lips against mine. My eyes widened for a second while I was in shock, then I struggled against him, panicking. Butch reached up and pinned my hands above my head and continued to ravage my mouth, ignoring my whimpers and protests.

I jerked my head to the side, breaking contact and gritting my teeth. This, however, didn't faze him. He just moved to my neck, sucking and licking down all down the vein there. I shivered, although the hallway we were in wasn't cold at all. I felt a moan bubbling up in my throat, but I forced it down, trying desperately to keep him from getting satisfaction from this. Although he probably was anyway…

Then, he abruptly let go of me and took two large steps away from me. I gasped as I desperately tried to collect myself. I put a hand over my mouth and neck as I gaped at him, waiting for him to do something worse. My eyebrows furrowed when he didn't.

Butch had a solemn expression on his face, and except for the slight bulge in his pants, he looked almost depressed.

"Look, just go home, okay? I…. my mom, she's…" He yammered, until he finally just turned and walked away. It wouldn't be until a lot later that I finally figured out why he walked away that day.

I pulled myself together, and choosing to disregard what had just happened(or shove it down to the best of my ability), I slowly made my way to the house.

Dad looked up from his studies when he heard the sliding doors open. I stepped in and just as I smiled at him, he quickly shoved all the paperwork in front of him into his desk and locked it.  
>"Hi honey. How was the rest of your party?" He asked, trying to act like nothing had just happened. My eyebrows furrowed. This night just kept getting weirder and weirder.<p>

"It was okay… I guess- what was that?" I asked, pointing to his desk. He hesitated, then wove me off.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." He explained. When my expression didn't change, he sighed, and slowly began, "Look, it- there's… there's a problem- a severe problem that needs fixed. I have to fix it. These," he pointed to his desk, "are notes on how. They're confidential." He explained further.

"Oh…" I breathed, raising my eyebrows in fake disinterest, but still feeling suspicious. Why would a problem in the vault be confidential? Unless it was horrifyingly bad. I smiled at my dad one last time before we exchanged goodnights, and I went, slowly at first as to not alarm my dad, then ran the rest of the way to my room. As soon as the door shut behind me, panic was let loose, almost like a floodgate busting open. Everything with Butch from earlier seemed so stupid now.

What if the vault had a radiation leak? What if we all became deformed and rotted away because of it? Or worse- what if we rotted and _lived_?

I had crawled into my bed by the time of all the pure panic ran through my head, and I held my blankets up to my mouth, my eyes huge, as I panicked. After a while of thinking about it, I was able to calm myself with a simple thought- my dad would fix it. Whatever it was, I was sure he would protect me from it. He was a scientist at heart; he knew all about this stuff and how to protect us from it, so why worry? It all seemed so silly now.

Amidst all my thinking, eventually I found myself drifting away, and inevitably, asleep.

I dreamt of a fire, and an infestation of some sort. It was murky though. I couldn't tell exactly what it was- all I knew was that I had to get away from it. Then, my world started shaking. As I ran down stairs, I stumbled from side to side, and I heard a voice.

"Kailynn! Kailynn wake up- hurry!" A light appeared in front of me, brightening as it spoke to me. I gasped, holding on to the stair railing for support.

"Come _on_!" The light's words echoed, and my eyes widened. It sounded just like…

"Amata?" As soon as her name came out of my mouth, the light brightened, and became a black hole, sucking me in. I screamed, and as soon as I passed through the barrier of the black hole, my eyes snapped open.

"Kailynn!"

"Huh? What?" I shot up, realizing I was still in my bed. I sighed in relief. Just a dream…

"Good God, you're awake!" She shouted. I blinked at her, confused.

"Butch threaten you or something?" I asked, annoyed.

"No! I wish it _were_ that! Kailynn your dad is gone!"


	4. Escape!

_**PLEASE REVIEW!**_ I know most of you don't, but it means the world to me to see someone else's opinion, so please take two seconds and review. And that is my rant for this chapter. Enjoy :)

**Chapter Three: Escape!**

"_What_?" I asked, not comprehending.

"Look I _don't_ have time to explain. Long story short, your dad left the vault, and my father went bulistic, and started a search for you- he wants you dead! You have to leave. My dad has a terminal in his office that you can use to open the door to the Vault Gate. From there you should know what to do. I'll hold off my dad for as long as possible but I know it won't be for long, so you'll have to hurry before he gets back in his office. Now go!" With that, she turned and ran.

My mind stuttered, ready for the pain, questions, and anger this inevitably was going to bring, but I shook it away. I had to get moving, apparently if I wanted to live any longer. I jumped up and ran through my bedroom and living room, then out the door.

I went down the short hallway that opened out into a "T" corridor. I glanced down to the left, where Butch's house was, and stopped, remembering last night. Questions flooded through my head about it all and I had to physically shake my head to get it clear. It didn't matter- whatever that was, it didn't matter now. I had to get out-

My thought was cut off by a blood curdling scream, coming from the direction of Butch's house. It was his mother. I grit my teeth as I whipped my head back toward the house, feeling indecisive. I let out a gust of air and took off toward the scream, hoping I got there in time. I burst through the door, and immediately a radroach jumped at me. I kicked it away, startled by it. After squashing it with my foot, I looked for the source of the scream. Surely enough, she was on the floor, bleeding through several wounds all over her body. Butch was nowhere to be found.

I quickly searched through the room, looking for anything I could use to help defend the poor woman, and after a few seconds of searching, I found Butch's old switchblade. I flipped the switch, and it hummed to life. I made quick work of the radroaches, and before long, Mrs. DeLoria was sighing in relief and struggling to her feet. I helped her to her couch in the next room, and she burst into tears.

"Thank you… I don't think… wait- where's Butch? They… they took him somewhere!" I was confused at her words, but as if on cue, I heard hard pounding coming from the closet in the next room. I darted towards the sound and pulled on the door, and found that it was locked.

"Stand back!" I yelled, and the pounding abruptly stopped. I heard shuffling for a second, and when it went quiet, I took a few steps back and barreled through the semi- thin door. Butch looked extremely surprised, but it all faded from his face when he remembered his mother.

"Wait- my mom-"

"It's already taken care of. Surprising that that switchblade of yours would actually come in handy one day." I sighed, crossing my arms. Butch looked at me with an incredulous look plastered on his face.

"Thank you… you… you saved her! But… they're looking for you… aren't they?" He asked, at first slap happy, and now dead serious. I said nothing; just nodded slowly.

"I can't stay here anymore- I have to go find…" I trailed off, looking down. I looked back up at him, and then turned to leave. He grabbed my arm and I turned back to look at him, questions forming in my eyes.

"Hey… I….just…" he sighed, "Be careful." With that, he let go of my arm and looked away, walking out of the closet and over to his mom. I nodded, and ran from the room. I ran out of their house and out into the hallway.

As soon as I got to the end of the hallway I ran around the corner, coming face to face with a few policemen. My eyes widened as I saw a fire licking along the sides of the doorframe next to them. '_Just like my dream…_' I gaped. I didn't have long to speculate, as one of the police spotted me, and leaving the fire to spread, he pulled out his gun to come after me instead. I gasped and ran to the nearest corridor to me, and didn't stop until I saw a group of radroaches crawling around a dead body. I let out a soft whimper at the loss, but kept the thought in my head that I needed to keep moving, lest the guards catch up with me.

I gulped and scurried down the hallway perpendicular to the hallway I was in, searching for any kind of weapon I could use to fight my way out of here, if need be. After a few minutes of searching desks, closets, and file cabinets, I found a pretty decent shape wooden bat. Granted, it wasn't much, but it was _something._

I jogged down the hallway I was in, watching for anyone else that was going to be hostile toward me. In the background, I heard several screams- some gut retching, and others, barely above a whisper from where I could hear it. All of them tugged at my heart and begged me to go back and help them- help ALL of them- but I knew if I did it would be my own death. So I held back all my horror and tears threatening to break free, and saved it for a time when I knew I could stop and rest.

After a few minutes of wandering, I found my way to the front of the overseer's office. Unfortunately, it was guarded by two cops, so I crouched, and slowly, as sneakily as I knew how, tip toed up behind one of them, and swung as hard as I could with the bat against the side of his head.

He let out a yell as his helmet cracked on the side where my bat came in contact with it. He dropped to the floor, and the other policeman whirled around to look at me, startled. I tensed, ready to swing, just as his hands flew up in surrender. It was only then that I realized that it was Officer Gomez.

"Hey- hey! Careful with that thing, kid!" he cried, bending over the officer I'd hit over the head after making sure that I wasn't going to hit him, too. He sighed after his inspection, standing up to face me.

"Be lucky you didn't break his skull, Kailynn… I know you wouldn't have had much of a choice in the end, but it'll only look bad on your part. Now, come on- I'm assuming you're going to find your dad? Then get outta here before the overseer gets back." Gomez pointed to the Overseer's office as he talked. I gawked at him, dumbfounded. He shook his head. "You don't have time, kiddo- go. And… be careful out there." Was all he said as he laid on the floor, acting as if I knocked him out too. I smiled.

"Thank you." I whispered before I ran into the office.

"Terminal, terminal…" I murmured, frantically looking everywhere for the damn thing. It was expressedly forbidden to come in here ever, so I didn't know where anything was.

After going back and forth, retracing my steps a few times, I finally found a semi hidden door, opened it, and inside was the terminal, sitting on a desk behind a whole other desk. I bolted to it, and pressed the power button. I waited through the "Welcome Overseer of Vault 101" page impatiently, constantly looking back behind me to make sure the overseer or any policemen wasn't about to shoot me.

Finally the password page opened, and I cursed aloud. Password protected. I should have known. I turned to the desk behind me, searching for the password. I opened drawer after drawer after drawer, and found nothing. I raged for a minute, kicking the desk chair over, and after that minute, a thought popped in my head. I turned to the terminal and typed in "AMATA" and pressed the enter key, heart pounding.

Sure enough, I got it right. An almost manic smile spread across my face as I scrolled down to the "Open Door to Vault Gate" button and pressed enter. I heard metal clanking together behind me, so I turned around and found that the desk behind the terminal was indeed the way out. The desk had raised, revealing a staircase that lead down into almost complete darkness. I gulped, and as if on cue, a handful of policemen rounded the corner, making startled noises of surprise as they hurriedly pulled up their guns to shoot at me.

I gasped, dashing down the staircase, all the while hearing gunshots and the bullets hitting the metal just above my head, barely missing me.

As soon as my feet hit the metal floor I spotted Amata standing at what I assumed to be the controls for the Vault Gate. She said nothing, just hurried and pressed a series of buttons, and as soon as she was done, I heard the sound of the vault opening: a horrible screeching sound of metal on metal. I felt my skin crawl at the noise, and I clapped my hands over my ears.

"Kailynn, run!" Amata screamed, and straight after, the guards made their way down the steps and started to shoot on sight. I ducked and practically sprinted down the rocky corridor leading to the Vault Gate, praying that it would at least be open enough for me to get through before the policemen- or their bullets- got to me.

Bullets wizzed past my ears, and that increased the fear pooling inside me, which drove my feet to go even faster.

The gate had slid halfway across the opening and I jumped through, a bullet missing me by a hair. I didn't stop until I hit the wooden door just outside the Vault Gate.


	5. Welcome to the Capital Wasteland

_Alright. I know some people like to just skip to this chapter, but this coming from the AUTHOR, you NEED to read the prologue and first three chapters. Now that I've changed the pairing, I 'm pretty sure that won't be a problem, but there is information crutial to the story in those chapters, or at the very least chapters 1- 3. You can skip those, but future chapters WILL confuse you. So please read everything to ensure a full plot._

_Oh, and review please! :D_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four: Welcome to the Capital Wasteland<strong>

As soon as I opened that door and all that bright light poured in around me, my eyes stung painfully, and I had to shield my eyes from it. Distantly almost, I heart the cault door close, and I whipped around to look at it. All that long tunnel I was running through seconds ago looked like to me now was a black void. While a minute ago I could see the tunnel perfectly, now I found that I couldn't at all.

I turned back toward the wastes, and for the first time in my life, I felt completely alone. There was nobody in sight, and it all looked… dead. Everything looked just so lifeless and still…

I slowly took a first step, then a second, then I forced myself to keep going down the hill. 'There had to be other survivors around _some_where, right?' I thought as I continued down the small hill. When I got to the bottom, I took a quick look around, and still seeing nothing, continued forward.

I'd heard so many stories- horror stories- about the outside wastes. Not that they had a single clue what was out here, but it scared me nonetheless. Dad had confirmed that the nuclear gases would have had horrible effects on animals, mutating them and making them deformed, and such. This made me much more afraid of every noise I heard and movement I saw.

Eventually I made it to a road- weathered, but still a road. I followed it until I found some broken- down looking houses, and wanting shelter, I went up to most of them that were still intact, peering through the grimed up windows to see if anyone lived there.

I'd looked into quite a few houses until I came to a faded yellow one that looked like it had been lived in recently, so I walked around the house until I found the door. I knocked firmly, and waited. No response came from the door. My eyebrows furrowed and I knocked again.

Again, no answer.

I frowned, crossing my arms in frustration. Was there _no one_ out here? Or had I not traveled far enough? I groaned at the situation. I should've grabbed something before I left. Food, water, clothing, maybe a little soap… My frown deepened as I thought about this. What was I going to eat? How was I going to bathe? Was the water even safe? Where was I going to sleep? I looked at the house in front of me as all these questions went flying through my head. 'Maybe…' I thought to myself as I looked all around me, and, seeing no one, turned the door knob and went inside the house.

Not a second after I walked in the door a gun was pressed to the side of my head. I froze, fear paralyzing me. I was going to die. I knew it. I _knew_ leaving the vault was a bad idea! But, in the end, did I really have a choice? My "father" made that choice for me, and now I was going to die.

"Who are you? What do you-… did Colin send you?" The woman pointing the gun at my head asked. I was shaking terribly by now. How was I supposed to defend myself against a _gun_? I had a wooden bat to my name, and that was it. And I knew as soon as I went to reach for it, she'd blow my brains all over her wall in a heartbeat. I thought of a way to get out of this, but I came up with nothing. I was panicking, and I wasn't able to think properly.

"I…. I…" I stuttered, not able to hide the hysteria in my voice.

"Did Colin send you or not?" She pressed the gun harder into my temple, and I whimpered at the pain. '_God, dad, what have you gotten me into?_'

"N-no… I don't know anyone named C- Colin." I spat out, not daring to move my head at all.

"That's all I needed to know- no need to pee your pants. In any normal case I wouldn't believe you, but you look like you're about to throw up. Besides- hey… you're wearing a vault suit." She pointed out, astonished. At this, she lowered her gun and stepped into my view. "Vault 101 huh? Man, you might as well be a kitten walking into a pit of deathclaws." She sighed, crossing her arms. I was still a little shaken, so I didn't act confused when she mentioned the deathclaws- I didn't even move at all. "You just count yourself lucky you found _me_ and not a raider- will you _stop_ looking at me like you've seen a damn _ghost_? I'm not gonna hurt you, so stop it with the puppy caught in a corner look."

"'Kay." At her words, I forced myself to relax, because I didn't think she was lying about it, and I was just relieved to find someone I could trust at all. "You just… really shook me up is all."

"Yeah? And _you_ shook _me_ up, kid. I thought you were here to kill me." While she was talking, she walked over to her counter and threw her gun on the kitchen counter.

"Kailynn."

"S'cuse me?"

"My name. It's Kailynn."

"Mine's Silver. Nice to not have to kill you." She retorted, walking into what looked like her bedroom. I followed her, a question in my eyes.

"I have a question- if you don't mind."

"Shoot." She mumbled, fumbling through her dresser drawer now.

"Er, this may be a stupid question, but… what's a deathclaw? And… a raider?" I asked, feeling quite retarded for doing so.

"Your questions further prove my point from earlier." She stood to face me, some supplies in her hands. I scanned what was in her hands, and she had a map, a small pouch, and some small boxes, along with a shotgun. My eyes widened.

"Look, you aren't going to last five seconds out there without the proper know- how. Now, sure, there's some stuff that just can't be taught, like where to scavenge for supplies and when, or when to travel, but one thing is for certain out there- it isn't a stroll in the park. Come on, I'll teach ya some basic stuff you need to know." She talked about money currency first, which to my amazement was _bottle caps_, then she talked about how it was pretty much every man for him/ herself out there, then about how the gun was your best friend, and last but not least, talked about the map on my pipboy. After she was done talking and I absorbed everything, I eyed her.

"What do you want in return for all this?" I asked hesitantly. My heart dropped when she smiled.

"You're learning already, Kailynn. I _do_ want something. I'm going to go ahead and be blunt about it. I want you to kill Colin Moriarty." I almost choked at her words.

"You want me to _what? _You want me to kill-…" I stopped mid- sentence, horrified.

"Welcome to the Capital Wasteland, kid."


End file.
